Is your mobile phone making you fat?

Is your mobile phone making you fat?

Addicted to checking your mobile device? It could be making you gain unnecessary weight.

Is your mobile phone making you fat?

Around the world, more people own mobile phones than toothbrushes, according to recent studies.

Australian weight loss expert Kylie Ryan believes that this newfound addiction to our mobile devices is trapping us in a virtual world to a point where we are becoming out of tune with our body’s natural desires to stretch, get amongst nature, engage in exercise, and fuel up on nutritious foods.

“If you’re glued to your phone then you’re constantly in the virtual world and you’re ignoring all other sensory messages from your body, Ryan says. “You get so disconnected that you forget how to listen to the subtle, quiet messages from your body, like hunger, fullness or sensory pleasure.”

And the growth in popularity of social media apps such as Instagram and Twitter, where food photos are shared every second, serves as a visual appetiser in the same way that food and drink advertising works. It has the potential to instigate false feelings of hunger and cravings for fat and sugar-loaded foods.

Similarly, if you are on your phone while eating – either in conversation or taking foodie snaps – you may be missing your body’s signals of fullness, causing you to overeat.

Ryan suggests turning your phone off three times per day for five minutes at a time to appreciate simple sensory measures and help combat weight gain.